Almost 35 years after retiring as one of the most senior soccer referees in the world – and 17 years after he stopped officiating youth matches, Abraham Klein's career is being commemorated in the FIFA World Football Museum in Switzerland. On October 25 the museum will hold a ceremony when it receives a substantial part of Klein's collection, which he accumulated during over 50 years as an internationally famous soccer referee.

For years, Klein tried to find a worthy place in which to display his rare collection to the public. It includes over 1,000 items, including balls, whistles, red and yellow cards, flags, emblems, ties, referee uniforms and more. Klein is not a professional collector, but he didn't throw away anything. The editor of his book, publisher and curator Mordi Alon, realized the potential, and helped to organize the collection, which originally was supposed to be offered at a public auction. Readers of Haaretz found out about the story on the these pages; thanks to Haaretz.com in English, the story also came to the attention of the FIFA museum, which just happened to have opened its doors at around the same time. FIFA decided it that wanted to house part of the rare collection and asked that the collection be removed from eBay.

At the end of a somewhat complicated story, Moritz Ansorge, the museum's curator, visited Israel, as a result, about 100 items will be shipped off to Zurich. These include a tracksuit worn by the referees in the 1982 World Cup, referee uniforms, balls from important games, a pressure gauge for balls, whistles, yellow cards on which Klein wrote the names of the players, and more.

The museum greatly appreciates the collection it has received, and director Marc Caprez, as well as Ansorge, describes the items as a treasure that came into their hands. Part of the collection was brought to Zurich by Klein and his wife Bracha last month. In honor of the transfer of the items to the museum there will be a festive event in Zurich in late October, to which Klein has invited the chairman of Israel Football Association Ofer Eini, chairman of the Referees' Union Uzi Itzhaki and Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav, among others.

UEFA Women’s Euro 2017 – the first to feature 16 teams – will be the perfect platform to show the remarkable progress of women’s football – and, alongside this, the excellent calibre of the leading women referees on this continent will also come into sharp focus. The 17th team at the Euro in the Netherlands comprises the current crème de la crème of Europe’s female match officials: eleven referees, 21 assistant referees and two fourth officials from 21 European national associations. Their selection for the tournament is a fitting reward for the hard yards they have put in to achieve a fulfilling career in the women’s game. UEFA has played a key role in nurturing women referees to attain their current impressive standards. For instance, as part of the European body’s comprehensive referee development programme, the female officials join their male counterparts for UEFA’s annual courses, and they have their own specific training programmes to foster the fitness levels that they need as top-level women’s football continues to increase in speed and tempo. Crucial advice and guidance is always forthcoming from UEFA’s Referees Committee. One member imparts first-hand experience as a mentor to the female officials. Dagmar Damková, from the Czech Republic, enjoyed an outstanding refereeing career, taking charge of the UEFA Women’s Euro 2009 final, the 2011 UEFA Women’s Champions League final, and the final of the 2008 Olympic women’s football tournament. Damková feels that the biggest development in women’s football has been in technical terms. “It’s not just a matter now of passing the ball and running,” she says, “but you can really see that teams have technique, and they play intelligently. More and more teams are emerging from an increasing number of countries. In the past, you’d see a lot of landslide victories. Nowadays, there are not so many games like this”.

The Euro referees themselves are ideally placed to comment on the progress that is taking women’s football onwards and upwards. “For me, the speed is the first thing,” says Germany’s Riem Hussein, who is at her first Euro. “And another thing is also the tactical approach – the players are getting better and better every day.” Another Euro debutant, Sweden’s Pernilla Larsson, agrees wholeheartedly. “You can clearly see now that women’s football is getting faster and faster – they are preparing better, and are in better physical shape, which means that we referees also have to be well-prepared physically.” "The referees have certainly reacted positively to what is needed today," says UEFA chief refereeing officer Pierluigi Collina. "Women's football is played faster than before, and the quality of play is definitely higher than before, so the referees today are also better athletes than before. Their ability to read a match is getting higher and higher. So they are coping with the increased level of women's football." UEFA considers the technical and tactical study of teams and players as a crucial element in a referee’s preparation, to keep the officials one step ahead of what happens on the field and help them in their decision-making. Consequently, analysts are on hand at the Women’s Euro to brief the referees on teams’ playing styles and players’ characteristics. Referees are also encouraged to do online ‘homework’ in this respect – allowing the officials to be fully prepared in advance for their assignments. Dagmar Damkovà feels that there is a huge difference in referees’ preparation between now and during her successful career. “I was talking with one of my colleagues,” she says, “and we said to each other: ‘How lucky referees are nowadays!’. We talked about how much material they have at their disposal. They are provided with a lot of things that we didn’t have. Nowadays, they have so many opportunities to learn, to gain experience, to practise,” Damkovà adds. “Practical training can even include sessions with players, where the referees train for situations - we didn’t have this in the past. And now they are also able to study and practice by watching video clips”.

The team of Euro match officials all have different stories to tell regarding why they took up refereeing. Some of them started out their journeys as players. “I played in the German second division for some years,” explains Riem Hussein, “and I complained about referees all the time! I said to myself that I couldn’t keep on complaining - I wanted to see for myself if I could referee. So I took a course, and refereeing became my major objective.” Kateryna Monzul, from Ukraine, is at her third Euro. She also played football in her childhood. “I eventually had to choose between being a player and a referee,” she says. “I chose the latter – and I’m pleased to say that it was the right choice.” There is a palpable sense of pride among the referees in their Euro appointments. Some are fulfilling cherished ambitions. “When I started to referee,” Monzul adds, “it wasn’t my goal to be a UEFA referee – it was my dream. And if you continue to work hard, dreams come true.” “I’m proud to be part of this,” says Hussein, “I’m aware of the fact that, as a player, I wouldn’t have reached this level. You have to enjoy the moments, because they may never come twice.” Dagmar Damkovà speaks from a considerable font of knowledge about what it means to be a major tournament referee. “It’s something special, it’s something that might happen once in a lifetime,” she reflects. “So when it happens, you are proud, you feel you are the one, you are chosen. You have to prove that you are one of the best.” Another close admirer of the women referees’ commitment and professional attitude is Belgian Jean-Baptiste Bultynck, a former referee himself who has supervised their fitness training and preparation in the run-up to the EURO. “I’m not only impressed by their dedication to fitness, but also their dedication to football and to refereeing,” he says. “They are highly motivated, and want to referee to the best of their ability. It’s about nothing else but refereeing. They want to show how good they are, and how they want to make progress…and their progress in the last ten years has been amazing.” The Women’s Euro will doubtless set new benchmarks for women’s football, but what are the prospects for the future? Kateryna Monzul is one of a considerable number of people who feel positive and optimistic about where the women’s game is heading: “You know, my hope is that it will be more popular, and not just in a few countries,” she says. “I hope that women’s football will be famous and popular for everybody in the world”.

Heine Allemagne accuses the governing body of world football (FIFA) of violating the patent and asks that use of the technology be suspended in all competitions: "I am David and FIFA is Goliath."

The inventor of the spray used by referees to mark, for example, the area where the ball must be placed at a free kick or where the wall should be, Heine Allemagne, promises to bring to the end a fight with FIFA that he himself defines as "David against Goliath". The 46-year-old Brazilian demands, in short, recognition for the invention of technology and 35 million USD. Heine recently sent a statement to FIFA, the International Football Association Board (IFAB) and all confederations (UEFA, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, AFC and OFC). The document, whose entirety is at the end of the story, requires the suspension of the use of the vanishing spray in all competitions. Contacted by Globo, FIFA did not respond. “I am asking for respect. FIFA did not give me the credit for the spray. They had made several promises, they used us, they commercially took over the project from 2008. After that, they made a gigantic conspiracy, absurd things. What am I doing? I am David and FIFA is Goliath. FIFA threatened to sue me. I made history in world football, and FIFA, in a calumnious way, threatened to sue me. As a Brazilian, you know how we are, we play football. I'm going to have to play football with FIFA", Heine said over the phone. In fact, Heine Allemagne owns the registered patent at the National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) for the "foamy spray composition to mark regulatory distance in sports". The concession, under the number PI0004962-0, was given to him in February 2010.

The spray was first used by a referee in the Belo Horizonte Cup of 2000. Two years later, it was adopted by CBF in official competitions; Brazil is therefore the technology pioneer. In 2009, it appeared in Copa Libertadores and in 2013 was tested by FIFA. The 2014 World Cup in Brazil was the first to have referees with this equipment. According to Heine, the initial goal of the project was to help develop football, with financial reward in the background. As much as the first spray cans tested by FIFA, including those used in the 2014 World Cup, were donated by him. FIFA said that after the World Cup, it would buy the project. After the World Cup, they sat down with all the companies, they analyzed the commercial impact of the invention and, in the end, they decided to rob me. That's it, a robbery, a kidnapping - complains the Brazilian, who has incomplete high school and says survive of inventions. In an interview with the site "Uol" in July 2014, before the end of the World Cup, Heine had revealed the goal of selling the project to FIFA. "They have to take this forward," he said at the time.

Credits to another company

Heine Allemagne is said to be upset that he has never been mentioned by FIFA as inventor of the spray. Instead, the entity handed over the credits to the company "PPG Comex" of Pittsburgh, USA - one of the sponsors of Copa America Centenary last year. In a statement issued shortly before the competition held in the USA, the company's CEO said he was happy to help the sport. “PPG Comex has worked hard for many years to enhance football by developing tools that help referees work. This was the case with the Comex Futline spray that will be used in this tournament for the first time”, stated Marcos Achar on the occasion. "They're ignoring the accusations I'm making to them, FIFA has sent us very badly, they conspired. We invented it, and they handed the patent to a multinational company. But this is an already patented spray, an idea conducted constitutionally - recalled the Brazilian.

"FIFA profaned the Laws of the Game book"

Heine defines FIFA's reluctance as a "conspiracy." An anomaly in the Laws of the Game book of the 2017/18 season recently published by the IFAB, he said, is one of the biggest indicators.” FIFA desecrated the rule book, it is boycotting this project, and they want to kill it. Why did they put the spray development in the rulebook only in Spanish and not in the other languages?”, he denounces. In fact, item 5 of the Laws of the Game book (which clarifies the responsibilities of the referee in a football match) in Spanish defines the spray as a referee equipment. In other languages; however, the tool is not mentioned.

Despite his disbelief, Heine believes that the next step is to wait for a response from FIFA, only then, if necessary, to initiate legal proceedings. "I'm going to start a moral debate with FIFA. I have sent this notice so we can sit down and talk like grown-up people. If they do not want to do that and keep insisting on it, I will go for legal action, which is the blocking of assets and everything that is plausible within justice. They will lose. Here we know how to play football, and I am going to play football with FIFA. If I do not get the money, it does not make that much difference. It is obvious that I need it, but it makes no difference. This will just not continue the way FIFA thinks it is", he said.